SAINT-DENIS, France — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won her fourth career Olympic gold medal as part of the 4x400-meter relay team on Saturday night, putting her name on a list with some of the greatest figures in track and field history.
Jesse Owens. Evelyn Ashford. Michael Johnson. Sanya Richards-Ross.
They are a few of the American runners who have won gold four times in the Olympics. McLaughlin-Levrone, with two in Paris and two in Tokyo, already has built a remarkable legacy at the biggest sporting event in the world — and the Dunellen native is just getting started.
She ran the second leg in the 4x400 relay on Saturday at Stade de France, inheriting a slim lead from teammate Shamier Little and leaving the rest of the world fighting for second with a blistering 47.71-second split. How fast was she? Her time would have easily won the gold medal in the 400 meters, which went to Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in 48.17.
When Alexis Holmes crossed the finish line, not only did the U.S. team have a Secretariat-type margin of victory, but the time of 3:15.27 broke a 36-year-old American record. That is just a tenth of a second off the Olympic record, which the Russians set in 1988.
For Gabby Thomas, who also won the 200 and as part of the 4x100 relay team, it was a third gold medal at the Paris Olympics. For the Americans, it was an eighth-straight victory in this event with a time that was more than four second ahead of the Netherlands (3:19.50) and Great Britain (3:19.72).
Two days earlier, McLaughlin-Levrone dominated the 400-meter hurdles with a world-record time of 50.37. She talked about the experience in Paris being much more fulfilling in that, unlikely Tokyo when she won her first two gold medals, she had her family in the crowd to support her.
“It’s special to know that your people are here just to have those moments you can look back on when you’re done running, and to have those pictures with family and friends whatever the outcome is,” the former Union Catholic star said. “This is one of those things I was missing. Rio, I didn’t medal, and Tokyo, nobody was there. I think this was my first real Olympics and I’m grateful for that in its fullness.”
New Jersey great Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi, a Finnish distance runner from the 1920s, have the most track and field gold medals in history with nine. Only five other track athletes — Usain Bolt, Ray Ewry, Allyson Felix, Ville Ritola and Elaine Thompson-Herah — have five or more.
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Steve Politi may be reached at [email protected].